Database for use in telephone communications

ABSTRACT

Techniques for storing data used in making announcements in telephone communications are disclosed. In an embodiment, an announcement depends on classes of services associated with telephone subscribers. The classes of services represent call types or call features such as call-forwarding unconditional, call-forwarding busy, call-forwarding no answer, etc. A first database associates subscribed phone numbers with a class of service. A second database defines the class of services such as the call types, the telephone digit pattern in the subscribed telephone numbers, the condition for an announcement, etc. A third database defines a default class of service for use in case a phone number is not associated with a class of service in the first database.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to telephone communications and,more specifically, to a database for use in such communications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In various situations in telephone communications, it is desirable that,after a caller initiates a call, an announcement is made to notify thecaller, for example, the status of the call, the charge that might incurto the caller, etc. In one approach, the announcement system defines acall type and a specific announcement for each subscriber so that suchan announcement may be made when appropriate. Unfortunately, whennumerous subscribers are involved, provisioning for every subscriberresults in managing huge amounts of data. For example, each time a calltype is added, data for up to millions of subscribers related to the newcall type must be updated. Such process is also tedious, error prone,and expensive. Therefore, what is needed is mechanisms to solve theabove deficiencies and related problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides techniques for storing data used inmaking announcements in telephone communications. In an embodiment, anannouncement depends on classes of services associated with telephonesubscribers. The classes of services represent call types or callfeatures such as call-forwarding unconditional, call-forwarding busy,call-forwarding no answer, etc. A first database associates subscribedphone numbers with a class of service. A second database defines theclass of services such as the call types, the telephone digit pattern inthe subscribed telephone numbers, the condition for an announcement,etc. A third database defines a default class of service for use in casea phone number is not associated with a class of service in the firstdatabase.

Generally, a class of service includes one or a plurality of call types,and a telephone subscriber is associated with a class of service basedon which an announcement is made when some conditions are met. Forexample, if a subscriber is associated with a class of service thatincludes the call type “call-forward-busy,” then, when a caller receivesa call busy signal from the subscriber, an announcement is made that thesubscriber is busy and the call is forwarded to, e.g., the subscriber'svoicemail. For another example, if the same class of service alsoincludes the call type “call-forward-no-answer”, then, when thesubscriber does not answer a telephone call, an announcement is madethat the phone call is forwarded to another number, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which likereference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary telephone network upon which embodiments ofthe invention may be implemented;

FIG. 2 shows a database used by the Home Location Register in FIG. 1, inaccordance with an embodiment; and

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating how an announcement is made, inaccordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent toone skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devicesare shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring theinvention.

Overview

FIG. 1 shows a telephone network 100 upon which embodiments of theinvention may be implemented. Telephone network 100 includes a homemobile switch center (H-MSC) 110, a home location register (HLR) 130, aserving mobile switch center (S-MSC) 140, and a wireless network 150.

A subscribed phone number (or subscriber) is associated with a H-MSC110. When the subscriber is called, regardless of the location of thesubscriber at that time, the call, based on the first six digit of thesubscriber, is routed to its H-MSC 110. H-MSC 110 includes informationsuch as the network provider and the HLR 130 of the subscriber fromwhich the subscriber may be located as appropriate. Normally, H-MSC 110sends a Location Request Invoke (LocReq) to HLR 130 to request thelocation of the subscriber. When a subscriber travels outside thecoverage area of its H-MSC 110, H-MS C 110, together with a S-MSC 140,provides services to the subscriber.

HLR 130 is a database storing data for subscribers and, in anembodiment, can handle millions of subscribers. HLR 130 includes datafiles that associate subscribers with classes of services, define theclasses of services, etc., based on which HLR 130 may determine the calltype and the announcement code that are associated with a subscriber.HLR 130 also stores information to locate subscribers, the S-MSC 140that covers an area to which the subscriber travels, etc. To locate asubscriber, HLR 130 sends a Routing Request Invoke (RouteReq) to thecorresponding S-MSC 140. Generally, when a subscriber is in the servicearea of S-MSC 140, S-MSC 140 informs the corresponding HLR 130 thatS-MSC 140 now serves the traveling subscriber.

S-MSC 140 serves subscribers when the subscribers travel outside oftheir H-MSC 110. Generally, when a subscriber travels within the servicearea of an S-MSC 140, the S-MSC 140, after locating the subscriber,sends a Registration Notification Invoke (RegNot) to the HLR 130 toregister with HLR 130 that S-MSC 140 now serves the subscriber.Embodiments of the invention are not limited to how an MSC, e.g., H-MSCor S-MSC, locates a subscriber. In general, an MSC is associated withthe area code of the phone number.

Wireless network 150 provides protocols for H-MSC 110, HLR 130, andS-MSC 140 to communicate with one another. In an embodiment, network 150uses the Signaling System 7 (SS7) and the American National StandardsInstitutes (ANSI) 41 protocols. The SS7 is normally used for efficientand secure telecommunications and wireless services such as personalcommunication services (PCS), wireless roaming, mobile-subscriberauthentication, call setup, management, etc. Examples of other protocolsthat may be used in network 150 include the global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), the message mobile application port (MAP), etc.Embodiments of the invention are not limited by the types of networkand/or the protocols used in a network.

Once a call is connected, a call path is created between the callingphone, H-MSC 110, network 150, S-MSC 140, and the called subscriber.

Call Announcements

In an embodiment, a caller receives an announcement depending on a classof service associated with the called subscriber in which the class ofservice includes the call types or call features of the calledsubscriber. For example, if the called subscriber has the call type“call-forwarding unconditional” or “call forward no answer,” then theannouncement indicates that the call is being transferred to, e.g., anemail, voice message center, etc. If there is a charge to the caller,then the announcement so indicates, and if the caller does not want tobe charged, the call will not be connected, etc.

Call Types

The followings are examples of call types and conditions to trigger acorresponding announcement. Embodiments of the invention are not limitedto this exemplary list of call types, but are also applicable to othercall types.

CFU: call forwarding unconditional. After the caller initiates the call,an announcement is made that the call is forwarded to another phonenumber, a voicemail, etc.

CFB: call forwarding busy. When the caller receives a busy signal fromthe subscriber, an announcement is made that the call is forwarded toanother number, a voicemail, etc.

CFNRI: call forwarding not registered/inactive. After the callerinitiates the call, an announcement is made that the subscriber iscurrently not registered in the network and cannot be reached.

CFNA: call forwarding no answer. After a number of rings that the calleedoes not answer the call, an announcement is made that the call isforwarded to another number, a voice mail, etc.

SCA: selective call acceptance. The callee accepts only some selectivenumbers, and when a number not in the selective list is detected, anannouncement is made that the call cannot be connected.

PCA: password call acceptance. The callee accepts a call only when thecaller provides a correct password, and when the call is initiated, anannouncement is made asking the caller to provide the password, and ifan incorrect password is provided, an announcement is made that the callcannot be connected, etc.

DND: do not disturb. After the caller initiates the call, anannouncement is made that the callee does not accept the call at thattime.

CD: call delivery. The subscriber is registered in H-MSC 110 or S-MSC140, is not busy, does not have DND active, etc., and the call isconnected.

FA: flexible alerting. A call may be made via a pilot number to ring aplurality of numbers. When the pilot phone is used to call the pilotnumber, an announcement so indicates, and the system calls all the groupmembers.

MAH: mobile access hunt. This feature is similar to the FA feature,however, the MAH allows to call each group member one at a time and thecall is connected when the first group member picks up the phone.

In an embodiment, each announcement corresponding to a call type isidentified by an announcement code. For example, announcement codeANNCODE(1) corresponds to call type CFU, announcement code ANNCODE(2)corresponds to call type CFB, announcement code ANNCODE(3) correspondsto call type CFRNI, etc.

The HLR Database

FIG. 2 shows database HLR 130, in accordance with an embodiment thatincludes sub-databases or files 210, 220, and 230.

Database 210 includes the subscribed phone numbers and theircorresponding classes of service (COS). A phone number thus has the calltypes defined in its corresponding class of service. In the example ofFIG. 2, phone numbers from lines 411-420, 421-430, and 431-440 areassociated with COS(1), COS(2), and COS(3), and are thus associated withthe call types in COS(1), COS(2), and COS(3), respectively.

Database 220 defines the features for each class of service, which mayinclude one or a combination of call types. A call type may be in one ora plurality of class of service. For example, in FIG. 2, class ofservice COS(1) includes call type CFU; class of service COS(2) includescall types CFU, CFNRI; and class of service COS(3) includes CFNA, SCA,etc. In an embodiment, a class of service also specifies a digitpattern, which allows further refine the applicability of theannouncement by using a pattern of the digit string, such as playing aspecific announcement if the area code is 402 and/or the next threedigits of the subscribed number is 384, etc.

Database 230 specifies the default class of services to be used in casethe subscribers in database 210 are not associated with a class ofservice. The default class of service in the example of FIG. 2 is CFU.

The data stored in each database in FIG. 2 is in accordance with anembodiment, but the invention is not limited to such arrangements.Various other arrangements are within the scope of embodiments of theinvention. For example, the default class of service may be stored ineither database 210 or 220; a portion or all data in database 220 and/or230 maybe stored in database 210; HLR 130 includes all data in one filewithout having sub-databases or files 210, 220, 230, etc.

Illustrative Method for Making an Announcement in a Telephone Connection

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating how an announcement is made, inaccordance with an embodiment. For illustration purposes, a first person(the caller) uses a phone to call a second person (the callee) who has aphone number as a subscriber in HLR 130. Further, the callee and thushis phone have traveled outside of the phone's H-MSC 110.

In step 301, the callee and thus the wireless phone subscriber enter theservice area of S-MSC 140.

In step 302, S-MSC 140, having located the called subscriber, sends theRegistration Notification Invoke RegNot to HLR 130.

In step 304, the caller calls the callee.

In step 308, the call reaches H-MSC 110 of the callee.

In step 312, H-MSC 110 sends a LocReq to HLR 130.

In step 316, HLR 130 sends a RouteReq to the S-MSC 140.

In step 322, S-MSC 140 returns a Temporary Local Directory Number(TLDN), which will be used by H-MSC 110 to route the call to S-MSC 140in step 336.

In step 324, HLR 130, based on the subscriber phone number, determinesthe class of service of the subscriber that includes the call types andbased on which HLR 130 determines the appropriate announcement.

In step 328, HLR 130 sends a response to the LocReq of H-MSC 110. HLR130 also includes the TLDN and the announcement list parametercontaining the announcement(s).

In step 332, H-MSC 110 plays the announcement to the caller.

In step 336, the caller and the callee are connected, and the callbegins.

Embodiments of the invention are advantageous over other approachesbecause a class of service may be associated with a plurality ofsubscribers, which reduces the burden of data entry for operators andthe risk for entering erroneous data. For example, in one approach, ifthere are 2 million subscribers, then there are 2 million entries forcall types each corresponding to a subscriber. However, using techniquesof the invention, and, for illustration purposes, if a class of serviceis associated with 2000 subscribers, then there are only 1000(2,000,000/2,000) entries of class of services.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific embodiments. However, it will be evident thatvarious modifications and changes may be made without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative ratherthan as restrictive.

1. A method for making announcements in telephone communications,comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of classes of services;associating a class of service with one or a plurality of telephonenumbers; defining the class of service to include one or a plurality ofcall types; corresponding a call type to an announcement; and when atelephone number is engaged in a telephone connection, identifying theclass of service associated with the telephone number; identifying thecall type associated with the telephone connection and the class ofservice; and based on the identified call type and identified class ofservice, making an announcement.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising the step of using a default class of service for a telephonenumber that has not been associated with a class of service.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the class of service that includes one or aplurality of call types includes a digit pattern and making theannouncement is further based on this digit pattern.
 4. A database foruse in telephone communications, comprising: a plurality of telephonenumbers each corresponding to a class of service; definitions of classesof services; wherein each class of service includes one or a pluralityof call types; and upon a telephone connection of a telephone number, anannouncement is made based on a call type and a class of serviceassociated with the telephone number.
 5. The database of claim 4 furthercomprising a default class of service for use in case the telephonenumber has not been associated with a class of service.
 6. The databaseof claim 4 wherein a class of service of the classes of service furtherincludes a digit pattern and the announcement is made further based onthis digit pattern.
 7. The database of claim 4 wherein the plurality oftelephone numbers are stored in a first file and the definitions of theclasses of services are stored in a second file.
 8. A telephone networkcomprising: a home mobile switch center and a serving mobile switchcenter for providing services to telephone subscribers; the servingmobile switch center provides the services when the telephonesubscribers travel out of the coverage range of the home mobile servicecenter; a home location register storing definitions for classes ofservices and the telephone subscribers each corresponding to a class ofservice; and a wireless network providing communication protocols forthe home mobile switch center, the serving mobile switch center and thehome location register to communicate with one another; wherein eachclass of service includes one or a plurality of call types; and upon atelephone connection of a telephone subscriber, an announcement is madebased on a call type and a class of service associated with thetelephone subscriber.